1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to stringed musical instruments and more specifically to guitar or bass instruments ergonomically designed to reduce the risk of repetitive strain injuries to the player's hands, wrists and arms, to which guitar and bass players are prone, by making the instrument more comfortable to play.
Playing a stringed musical instrument requires a high degree of dexterity. Hand and finger movements must be finely controlled, and the movements are often performed rapidly and repetitively. These movements are frequently performed over extended periods of time, which can result in repetitive strain injury. Guitar and bass players are particularly at risk due to the hand and wrist positions required to play the instrument. The musician's arm must be extended to access the fingerboard, and the wrist is frequently hyper-flexed to allow the fingers to reach the strings. Wrist strain is exacerbated when the musician plays bar chords. Rapid, repetitive, finger motion performed while the wrist flexor muscles are tensed increases the likelihood of repetitive strain injury.
The present invention addresses a solution to the problem repetitive strain injuries suffered by guitar and bass players.
2. Description of Related Art
Several proposed solutions to this problem have been developed wherein the instrument fingerboard is rotated in such a manner to reduce the degree of wrist flexion experienced during play. U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,260 by Burrell describes a stringed instrument whose neck is progressively twisted along the fingerboard length to make chording finger positions more comfortable. U.S. Pat. No. 5,852,249 by Steinberg discloses an improvement to Burrell intended to reduce inadvertent string contact with higher frets while strings are being fingered on the lower frets. U.S. Pat. No. 6,034,308 by Little describes another improvement to Burrell which extends the fingerboard twist into the strumming area to optimize playing position for the musician's strumming and fingering hands.
These instruments retain many conventional features of stringed musical instruments, including body structures that enhance the instrument's tonality. The problem with these instruments is that they are not adjustable by the musician once the instrument is built. Musicians must adapt their playing style to the instrument regardless of whether the particular arm, wrist and hand orientation is optimum for them. While playing position and comfort are generally improved, it may not be the most comfortable position for an individual musician.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,251,526 by Hill discloses a two-sided, stringed instrument with a rotating neck and bridge assembly having strings on both sides. The assembly is connected to a body by an axle. The axle allows movable assembly rotation about the neck axis so that either side of the assembly can be played. The body serves as a connection point so that the rotating neck can be supported away from the musician's body during play. The open design of the body is such that both sides of the assembly can be played simultaneously. This instrument offers the flexibility of having two instruments of differing voices, such as a guitar and a bass, combined in a single instrument making both voices readily available for play without requiring time to swap between two separate instruments.
The problem with this instrument is that it addresses the problem of simultaneous play of multiple stringed voices (e.g., guitar and bass) but does not attempt to address musician comfort or ergonomics. The body serves to separate the rotating neck from the musician's body. Its open design and rotary mechanism allow simultaneous play of both voices, but compromise instrument tonality in the process.